♫ It’s just another manic Monday. I wish it were Sunday ’cause that’s my funday ♫♪. Since it has to be Monday, let’s make the best of it with another look at some more sketch tools. Last week, we started looking at some sketch tools in the world famous article,The Right Sketch Tool for the Job. This week we will look at a another sketch tool that is sure to make your job easier, the Modify Sketch tool.

Modify Sketch

I know many people think I drank the Kool-Aid when it comes to SolidWorks but there are so many cool tools available that I love. The Modify Sketch tool is one of my favorite tools when I am working on a sketch. With one command you can move, rotate, scale and flip a sketch; all without destroying the sketch. While in an active sketch click Modify in Tools->Sketch Tools.

Unmovable Sketches

If a sketch has references to an external point, such as the origin, the sketch cannot be moved. If you attempt to move the sketch while in the Modify Sketch tool, you will receive the following message.

You will also notice that all of the fields in the Modify Sketch window are grayed out, except for the Rotate field. The only operation that is allowed when any point of the sketch references an external point is the Rotate command.

As an extra reminder, the pointer only shows the Rotate option available.

Movable Sketches

If the sketch does not have external references, all fields in the Modify Sketch window are available. We will go over each command in the Modify Sketch tool in a minute.

Now you will see the mouse pointer showing the ability to move, for the left mouse button, since the sketch does not reference external points.

The Black Origin

The key to the Modify Sketch command is the Black Origin. All operations for the Modify Sketch tool revolve around this origin, in one way or another. As you hover over different points of the black origin, the mouse pointer will change to show what functions are available.

Center of Black Origin

If you hover over the center point of the black origin, the mouse pointer will show that you can move the black origin with the left mouse button and flip the sketch along both axis with the right mouse button.

X Endpoint of Black Origin

If you hover over the X endpoint of the black origin, the mouse pointer will show that you can move the sketch or flip the sketch along the X axis.

Y Endpoint of Black Origin

If you hover over the Y endpoint of the black origin, the mouse pointer will show that you can move the sketch or flip the sketch along the Y axis.

Off of Black Origin

Hover anywhere else in the sketch, the mouse pointer will show that you can move or rotate the sketch.

Moving Sketch

There is more then one way to move a sketch in the Modify Sketch tool. First, if you need to move the sketch in any direction by a specific value; type the value in either the X value, Y value or both and hit Enter. If you wish to move a specific point in the sketch to a specific location, select the Position selected point checkbox in the Translate section, click a point in the sketch and enter the values for the X value and Y value fields; then hit Enter.

The easiest way to move a sketch, is with the mouse. Whenever the pointer shows a cross in the left mouse button; the sketch can be moved arbitrarily by click-dragging the left mouse button.

Rotating Sketch

Just like moving a sketch, there is more then one way to rotate a sketch. If you need to rotate the sketch by a specific value, enter the value in the Rotate field and hit Enter. The sketch will be rotated about the black origin.

You can also rotate the sketch with the mouse pointer. If you are not over the black origin, the right mouse button on the pointer will display the rotate icon.

Click-drag with the right mouse button to rotate the sketch. The farther away from the black origin the mouse pointer is while dragging, the finer the increments will be while rotating.

Release the right mouse button and the sketch will be rotated.

Flip Sketch Along X Axis

The ability to flip the sketch along the axis is probably my favorite part of the Modify Sketch tool. To flip a sketch along the X axis, hover over the X point of the black origin and click the right mouse button.

The sketch will instantly flip sides along the X axis.

Flip Sketch Along Y Axis

To flip along the Y axis, right click the Y point on the the black origin…

…and the sketch will flip instantly.

Flip Sketch Along Both Axis

If you want to flip the sketch along both the X and Y axis, you can do both separately but that would be an extra step. Instead if you hover over the center of the black origin you will see the icon on the right mouse button change to show the symbol for flipping along both axis.

With the mouse pointer over the center of the black origin, click the right mouse button…

…and the sketch will instantly flip along both the X and Y axis. Cool, huh?

Scale Sketch

Last, but certainly not least, is the Scale function of the Modify Sketch tool. In the Scale About section of the Modify Sketch window, you are presented with a couple of options for the origin of the scale. Selecting Sketch origin will scale the sketch about the sketch origin and the Moveable origin will scale the sketch about the black origin that can be moved anywhere inside of your sketch. Select which origin you wish to use and enter the value that you wish to multiple the scale of the sketch by in the Factor field.  Entering a value bigger then one will make the sketch bigger and entering a value of less then one will make the sketch smaller.

When you hit Enter the sketch will scale and the sketch dimensions will be updated.

Even More to Come…

That does it for the Modify Sketch tool but don’t be sad there are even more sketch tools to cover next week. Until then, keep those questions cmoing and I will do my best to answer as many as I can. Sometimes, it make take me a while to respond but don’t get upset if I don’t respond to your question. I try to answer as many as I can but sometimes it is hard to keep up. Have a Happy Monday!

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